I like your wife! How cool is that! Racks of them, or "limited edition, direct from Enstone"?...... IIRC, some guys up in Finland were also offering them, at least for a while. Did you ever get the mini pink one for your (iirc) niece? Cheers, Ian
The first problem with this debate is defining "better"..... And we've been round & round on that one a few times...... Fair enough. Pete's answer to the Viz' question. The counterpoint of course is that it's a team sport, so why shouldn't the team be involved when he's on track? As I've said, personally, I don't think "driver coaching" as we're hearing now should be allowed, at least at this level. Strategy calls and car maintenance issues I don't have a problem with. Cheers, Ian
But, as usual, it's not a "change", rather a "clarification"..... Again, it's not just Merc that are doing it - we get to hear them more because they're typically at the pointy end. But I don't think it's an attempt to hurt them more than anyone else. Cheers, Ian
Understand what you're getting at, but in this case at least I just don't think it's being done to diminish an advantage. In fact, wasn't it LH that whined recently that he had his own, dedicated, strategist at Mclaren whereas Merc has just one team strategist? FWIW, I think I read (Autosport?) that the teams had asked for the clarification - "is real time driver coaching legal?" BTW, How do you answer your own question about the situation once he leaves the pits? Cheers, Ian
For the traditionalists pining for the preradio days may I suggest the return of the riding mechanic?
Up to a point it seems. Back in the very, very early days Henry Ford introduced a racer with just one seat. When asked why he said something about one life per car being enough.
As far as I'm concerned it should stop being a "team sport" when the start lights go out. That's why I hate the artificial tire rules so much. Just like CART ruined the Marlboro Challenge the year they mandated pit stops. LET THE LADS RACE!!!
While I agree in spirit as long as there is artifice its hard to single out any particular travesty for condemnation. Other than DRS of course.
I don't like vague, unenforceable rules. Any team will be able to allege that another team is using steganography on the radio, and it will be impossible to prove one way or the other. Just what the sport does not need. If it's really so important to prevent the voice radio being used as a sort of low-bandwidth remote control, then get rid of the radio.
Toto Wolff is already talking about the teams circumnavigating the rule (from: Wolff predicts radio controversy - Formula 1 - Eurosport Australia ) : "This is a complex and controversial decision which will require a significant effort from the teams to understand how best we can work around it," said Wolff in a team preview on Friday. However, I suspect that if it is felt that the teams are circumventing the new rules (and therefore taking the p:censored:ss out of the FIA and their rules), then the next step will be a complete ban on all radio technology (including any in-helmet beep systems). "What about safety messages though?" you might ask - Well, as has already been pointed out, the MotoGP boys seem to be able to cope with racing without any radio communication at all so why should the F1 boys need it? They're supposed to be the best racing drivers in the World so they should be able to cope with warnings conveyed by flags/on track lights and message boards, after all, there are plenty of lower forms of racing who have to do exactly that! If you listen to any interview made by a driver who had to race with a broken radio then you'll hear them say how the entire race became a lot harder because they had no idea what condition the car was in, where they needed to push, where they needed to save fuel, where their team-mate had an edge over them, whether the race strategy was working or not. They will say that they had to push the car for practically the entire race because they had no idea what was going on! - And that's how F1 should be! Drivers shouldn't be in a position where they know they can relax for a bit and cruise around to save fuel, or that they are under no threat from the guy behind because he's on a different strategy and has another pit-stop to make, they should be pushing as much as possible on every lap, just in case. All of the fans complain that F1 has become far too predictable and easy but then complain when the FIA do something to help take away the predictability! - What a fickle bunch!
This rule makes absolutely no sense to me. Even in the arguably lowest form of road racing, LeMons, we have radio systems and two-way discussions of our strategies and our competitors' strategies. I've also had someone watching and suggesting alternate approaches to corners. Why should that go away at other levels?
As you see LeMans as being "The lowest form of road racing", why should F1 be brought down to that level? F1 is supposed to be the ultimate racing series with the best drivers in the World proving which one of them is the fastest of all! The best drivers in the World shouldn't need help with how to drive a car fast or how to race well!
I don't get where this team sport comes or came from. Yes it takes lots of talented people to build and prepare the car but the race should be about 1 person only, the driver. Remember F1 is supposed to decide the best driver in the world, not the best team. And all of us in the know are truly well aware of all the team effort behind the scenes. Smacks of people who can't drive wanting too much attention. Get over it, you are a mechanic! Pete
Reckon that the constructor's is just as important as far as F1 is concerned...head over heart of course. Best, Sammy
That isn't true. F1 is not a spec series. It even includes Constructor's Championship, and they play the constructor's national anthem at the podium, for goodness sake. Until recently we had explicit team orders. Now we have implicit ones. You bet it is a team sport. A serious attempt to "decide the best driver in the world" should require identical equipment, for starters.
Interesting, very interesting ... Okay F1 was started to find the best driver in the world and I guess demonstrate manufacturers abilities but to find the best driver in the world you do not need a spec series. What happens with F1 (LH excluded ) is that the cream of driving talent rises to the top and end up in the best car where the reap their deserved results. It had always been this way. Also what the heck is wrong with the "team" being the car preparer and leaving the racing to the driver. There is no need for the "team" to be involved on race day, their excellent work has been done. And absolutely no need for a member of the "team" to coach the driver during the race! Pete ps: some of you have a real funny idea of a team. You do realise that preparing a race car is 99% of the work. The driver is only that last 1% and you want that to be further diluted by allowing the driver to be coached. The team gets well and truly enough credit without in car radio.
I have no idea what these percentages are supposed to mean. You were just arguing that F1 is all about the driver. Regardless, if the goal is to isolate the driver from his team's advice during the actual running of the race, the proposed rule is not the way to go about it. There is clearly an incentive to provide such communication, and this can be accomplished by hiding messages in a manner that cannot be reliably proven or disproven.
Agreed, as the rule states, "alone and unaided".... But, remember, the $ are paid to the best team, not the best driver... I know you don't like that, but it is what it is...... Used to be anyway It's a conundrum for sure! The question is, I guess, at what point (if any) should the jockey be alone? I can certainly see where Procoach is coming from. I can certainly argue that "coaching" shouldn't be permitted. I could even argue that radios should be banned completely - As noted, the bike guys seem to manage ok. But, like it or not, we live in a 'high tech' world, and at least they outlawed two way telemetry! Cheers, Ian
IROC is about finding the best driver. F1 is about the team. The drivers are secondary. Ask Uncle Enzo.
